


Without Words

by BaronVonChop



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-31 14:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6473848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaronVonChop/pseuds/BaronVonChop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke's thoughts as Rey climbs the steps to reach him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without Words

Luke Skywalker stood on a cliffside, his eyes on the ocean. He felt a presence approaching, climbing the path he had grown to know so well. Luke had been the first person to tread those stone steps in many centuries. He knew whose feet approached now, walking over green grass and worn stone. He knew her presence, had felt it awaken to the Force from across the galaxy. He had known in that moment that her path would cross his, but he had hoped their meeting would not come so soon.

He felt unready to take up that burden again.

After his failure in training the next generation of Jedi, he had sought the first temple of the Jedi in the hopes of finding solace and guidance. In his time at the temple, he had felt a connection to the Force unlike anything he had ever felt before. His meditations among the ancient ruins had given him clarity about his role in the universe.

And yet, he had not found the answers he sought.

He did not know what he could do to shield another student from the lure Dark Side. He was starting to fear that the Dark Side could never be shut out. He knew the danger in fear, and even that danger had become familiar. He calmed his mind, allowing it to become as clear as the sky.

She drew closer, passing below a weathered arch. He felt her mind reaching out, groping through the Force. He cloaked his presence from her fumbling search. Their meeting was inevitable now, yet he could still delay it.

The moment approached with every step she took. The Force had a plan for him. He had first glimpsed it when he destroyed the Death Star, had slowly come to understand it in revelations on Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin, Endor, and finally on the second Death Star. He had trusted that the Force would continue to guide him, making up for any lapses in his training. That hubris had led to the deaths of the bright, hopeful pupils who had come to him.

Luke Skywalker remembered their faces. More than that, he remembered how they had felt through the Force. He remembered when those presences disappeared.

She was nearly to the top now. He could feel her fatigue from the climb, but she had a strong constitution, and she was resolved. She needed someone who could teach her the ways of the Force.

How he wished there was someone else.

She felt his presence.

He turned.

The first thing he noticed were her eyes. She had known Han Solo, and the loss was still fresh.

There would be more pain, more loss, to come. Even if she resisted the pull of the Dark Side, she would carry the burden he had known as the last of the Jedi. Perhaps he could spare her some of that if he refused to set her on that path.

She removed something from her pack and held it out to him.

An heirloom passed to an idealistic boy by a kind mentor.

A betrayal deeper than the loss of a hand.

Her eyes pleaded with him. She had followed a path that ended here. If she were to continue, she needed him to show her the way.

He owed her a reply. He could not find the words.


End file.
